December Newsletter
With a busy month behind us and the festive season approaching, we can now look back to some highlights from the last few weeks - and anticipate some new adventures in the months to come.
Cooler weather and autumn light makes December an excellent opportunity to explore Hong Kong's closest, most accessible and misunderstood neighbour - Macao. Centuries of architectural and cultural heritage, combined with an often-overlooked abundance of sights, smells and tastes, mean that Macao offers so much more than the casino glitz would suggest.
A little further afield, in 2011 we are scheduling some Canton adventures and an absorbing historical lecture series for those who want to understand Hong Kong and its place in the region in more depth. As always, thank you for your continued support and best wishes to you and yours for the festive season. Merry Christmas!
Forthcoming Walks:
Sham Shui Po Wet Market - Monday 29th November - afternoon
The Peak - Tuesday 30th November - afternoon
Central - Friday 10th December - afternoon
Please visit our Event Calendar for more.
Jason's Spring 2011 schedule is now available.
Recent Walks:
Cheung Chau - November 10th
Cheung Chau offers a lot more than seafood restaurants, windsurfing off pleasant beaches and the annual Bun Festival.
A recent walk revealed many fascinating aspects of the island's history. Cheung Chau's unexpected connections to missionaries, pirates, the Chinese Maritime Customs, authors and others surprised and intrigued many.
A group from the YWCA enjoyed perfect weather for this exploration, and a great day was had by all.
Foshan, China - November 23rd
Foshan - better known in the Cantonese world as Fat Shan (sounds like "Fut-Sarn")- is the hidden heart of the ceramic world. A significant proportion of the world's tiles and sanitary ware are manufactured in the city, and bathroom fitting showrooms abound. History and commerce combined into very full day away from Hong Kong.
Centred around a seven hundred year old, cultural heritage listed kiln in suburban Shek Wan, for centuries the city of Foshan has been regionally and internationally known for its superb pottery. Rustic streets packed full of ceramic shops offer some wonderful items at reasonable prices. Shek Wan offered a unique China experience for many - the experience of hassle-free shopping in peaceful, quiet surroundings; a world away from Lo Wu's grabby, grubby retail madness.
Along the way we visited Liang Yuen, one of Guangdong Province’s most serenely picturesque formal gardens. After enjoying some lunch alongside the ornamental lake in the company of Koi and a small community of turtles, we stumbled upon some more "down to earth" urban scenery when we reached Shek Wan. So many unusual sights in Foshan ...
The annual AWA Charity Bazaar is an excellent fund-raiser for Hong Kong charities. This year's event, held at the Excelsior Hotel, was - as ever - a great success.
An excellent time was had by all who visited in the course of the day.
